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Voices for International Women’s Day

By Caroline Dobuzinskis

International Women’s Day is important for a myriad of reasons, but they all add up to one: achieving equality for women. This day calls on us to remember that women still have to achieve equal access to education, employment, health care, roles in government leadership, resources, and income. Research from IWPR shows that it will take until 2056 for women to achieve pay parity with men in this United States, based on the pace of progress over the course of the past fifty years.

Slowing progress, women continue to dominate professions traditionally done by women, which typically pay less, despite sometimes having higher education requirements. Women now account for over 95 percent of all kindergarten teachers, librarians, dental assistants and registered nurses in 2009. As further evidence of this, women now make up 61 percent of the local government workforce, with the highest number—at 22 percent— working as elementary and middle school teachers.

Today on Twitter, many men and women used their voices to call for change and progress.

The conversation on the significance of International Women’s Day has been spirited. The Ms. Foundation for Women tweeted “We have far to go. U.S. ranks 37th out of 42 highly developed nations in terms of gender equality.” Musician and women’s rights advocate as Oxfam Global Ambassador, Annie Lennox wrote: “Women perform 66 percent of the world’s work, earn ten percent of world’s income and own one percent of the world’s property.”

Some women may not have the opportunity to advocate on behalf of their rights, consumed with finding basics of survival. Médecins Sans Frontières tweeted about its efforts to bring surgery to women suffering from obstetric fistulas, which can be life-threatening when left untreated.

In the political arena, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton announced during the launch of the 100 Women Initiative aired live yesterday on the State Department’s website, “I believe that the rights of women and girls is the unfinished business of the 21st century.” And former civil rights activist, Rep. John Lewis (D-GA) commented on Twitter: “On the 100th IWD, there are still too many women in too many parts of the world who are left out and left behind.”

These are just a few of the statements made today in honor of International Women’s Day. It is inspiring to see such an outpouring of support for women’s issues. This conversation should carry on beyond today as a reminder there is still work to be done.

Caroline Dobuzinskis is the Communications Manager with the Institute for Women’s Policy Research.